The Languages of China

The official language of China is standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua,
which
means standard speech, based on the Beijing dialect). Other major dialects are
Yue (Cantonese),
Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, and
Hakka
(Kejia). Because of the many ethnic groups in China, numerous minority languages
also are
spoken.

All of the Chinese dialects share a common written form that has evolved and
been standardized during two millennia and serves as a unifying bond amongst
the Han Chinese.

The government has aggressively developed both shorthand Chinese and Pinyin
(phonetic spelling) as ways to increase literacy and transliterate Chinese names.
The Pinyin system was introduced in 1958 and was approved by the State Council
in 1978 as the standard system for the romanization of Chinese personal and
geographic names.

In 2000 the Hanyu (Han language) Pinyin phonetic alphabet was written into
law as the unified standard for spelling and phonetic notation of the national
language.